Imagine living in a world where one constantly has people trying to dictate what he/she is going to do and how he/she is going to do it. Mary Oliver experienced this first hand. In one of her most well-known poems, “The Journey”, Oliver shares her battle against the “voices” to the reader. Oliver lets the voices influence her own life not knowing any better. The voices are the outside world trying to control Oliver’s decisions for the self-betterment of themselves by giving bad advice, using religion, and seeming helpless.

In “The Journey”, Mary Oliver begins the poem saying, “One day you finally knew what you had to do, and began, though the voices around you kept shouting their bad advice (Oliver 92).” Oliver uses a couple of interesting words in this sentence. When she uses the word “you,” it tells the audience that this poem is in second person point of view. This is important to recognize because Oliver understands that this poem’s theme is extremely relatable to most people around the world. Another interesting choice of wording is the use of “shouting.” Oliver could have easily said saying or telling, but instead she uses the word “shouting.” By incorporating this word, Oliver is telling the reader that the voices are angry because people generally shout when upset or angry. It is important to remember that these voices are “shouting their bad advice” because this shows that Oliver is doing something that the voices do not approve of, like for example her being a lesbian in a time period where people were not accepting and open minded. 

Oliver makes a reference in this poem about religion, and more specifically Christianity. In the poem she writes, “Though the whole house began to tremble and you felt the old tug at your ankles (Oliver 92).” Mary Oliver wrote “The Journey” during the 1980s, and during this time period, being a homosexual was challenging because of the lack of acceptance and open mindedness in America. The main reason for the lack of acceptance was religion. Most Christians during that time looked down upon gay people in America and believed that homosexuals would go to hell. When Mary Oliver says, “Though the whole house began to tremble and you felt the old tug at your ankles (Oliver 92)” it is a safe assumption that she is referring to The Devil pulling her down to hell. In this quote, the “house” that she is referring to could represent herself trembling from the Christians bombarding her with hateful and vicious slurs. When Oliver uses the word “old”, she is mentioning the old way of viewing homosexuals through the bible. Later on through Oliver’s journey, she begins to walk father away from the voices to where she cannot hear them anymore. When Oliver loses the voices completely, she witnesses a god-like moment, saying: “the stars began to burn through the sheets of clouds. (Oliver 92).” Oliver could be saying this to show that religion in the end helps guide people to clarity and peace of mind, instead of religion being used as a means to hurt and dictate people. 

The only time the voices are not being negative and trying to tell Oliver what to do, is when the voices are asking for help. The voices that “kept shouting their bad advice (Oliver 92)” are the same voices that yell, “Mend my life! (Oliver 92).” It is important to realize that the voices did not ask Oliver if she could help mend their lives, instead they told her to fix it. This shows how the voices are trying to control her decisions by telling her “bad advice” one minute, and then telling her to fix their lives the next. The voices only care for themselves, and never consider that Oliver’s life is not fixed either. Oliver continues to show how persistent the helpless voices were by saying, “though the wind pried with its stiff fingers at the very foundations, though their melancholy was terrible. (Oliver 92).” The usage of the word “pried” does a good job showing the persistent nature of the voices. Oliver is comparing herself to the “foundation” that the wind is trying to pry and break down. She describes the voices’ melancholy as “terrible” to show how insincere the voices truly are when they beg for help. She mentions towards the end of the poem the road was “full of fallen branches and stones (Oliver 92)”. It is interesting how she says “branches and stones” because it seems like Oliver is referencing the old saying: sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me. Right after Oliver makes the reference, she says, “But little by little, as you left their voices behind, the stars began to burn through the sheets of clouds, and there was a new voice which you slowly recognized as your own. (Oliver 92)”. This shows that Oliver realizes that the voices cannot hurt and control her. At the end of the poem, Oliver wraps it up by saying, “determined to do the only thing you could do – determined to save the only life you could save (Oliver 92).” This quote is essential to the poem because it shows Oliver realizing that the only person she needs to worry about is herself. Earlier in the poem, Oliver listens to the voices and is letting the voices affect the way she lives her life. Now, Oliver understands that she does not need to listen to the voices and that she just needs to listen to herself.  

The voices in “The Journey” tried to control and take over Mary Oliver’s life by using bad advice, religion, and helplessness. Mary Oliver overcame these voices by realizing she needs to listen to only one voice, her own. She learns that, in the end, words can only hurt her if she lets them. In the poem, she writes, “But little by little, as you left their voices behind, the stars began to burn through the sheets of clouds, and there was a new voice which you slowly recognized as your own (Oliver 92).” Oliver shows the reader that she has learned not to listen to the voices and that she finally has control of her life.   
